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Monday, February 11, 2013

The Divine in me greets the Divine in you

Hi all! Back from a week's holiday in Costa Rica, followed by a week off with the flu...an inauspicious return to Canada to say the least! But it did result in a hiatus in blogging/podcasting, but I was back in the pulpit this past Sunday, and what a great Sunday to come back: Transfiguration Sunday.

The Transfiguration seems to go unnoticed and unmarked by many when you compare it some of the other events in the life of Christ. Even His baptism seems to get more press, and it is not to underscore the importance of THAT event, but in many ways, the Transfiguration is for me the most important event in the life of Christ, at least insofar as the way I live my daily life is concerned.

The reason I say this is summed up in the word that everyone who has ever attended a yoga class will have heard: namaste. That word means, quite literally, "The Divine in me greets the Divine in you". In a word, it recognizes that divinity exists within each and every one of us. We are part of creation and so we share in creation.

Similarly, Christ is often called Emmanuel, meaning "God with us". The Transfiguration demonstrated that God is not a being who lives off in the clouds somewhere or even on another inaccessible plane of existence, but that God is present, with us, among us, within us.

I begin my sermon with a question: would our behaviour change in any way if we thought God was with us?

The reality is that God IS with us, not watching over us like a judge, but in the sense of a verb, like love and relationship. Christ's Transfiguration is meant to convey this idea.

Knowing that each person you address, interact with, come in contact with shares that divinity, ought we not treat each other with a little more care?

My sermon was based primarily on the Gospel passage for the week, Luke 9:28-43.

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About Me

I am an Anglican priest living and ministering in the Diocese of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The contents of my blog consist of my own opinions and reflections, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my parishes, my colleagues, my Bishop or God.